Folding umbrella



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-. F UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES L. HURD, OF NEWBURYPORT, MASSACHUSETTS.

FOLDING UMBRELLA.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 254,218, dated February 28, 1882.

Application filed December 15,1881. (No model.)

To all 'whom it may concern Be it known that I, CHARLES L. HURD, of Newburyport, of the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Folding Umbrellas; and I do hereby declare the same to be described in the following specification and represented in the accompanying drawings, of whichv Figure l is a vertical section of one of my improved umbrellas as it appears when in an open or unfolded state ready for use. Fig. 2 is a section, on an enlarged scale, of one of its ribs, with its rods folded together and upward alongside of the upper section of the stick. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section of the hingejoint of the two rods of each rib. Fig. 4 is a view of the umbrella as folded in a compact state to admit of it being carried in an ordi nary valise or a carpet-bag.

The nature of my invention is defined in the claim hereinafter presented.

In the said drawings, A denotes the stick; B B, theribs; O O, the braces; D, the hingering of the. ribs; E, the runner of the braces, and F the cloth covering, the latter being formed or made and applied to the ribs in the usual manner.

In carrying out my invention each rib is made of two rods, 11 b, hinged together, as shown at 0, so that the lowerone maybe turned v upward and outwardly alongside of the upper,

while its upper end is to be hinged to the stationary ring D in manner to enable such upper rod to beturncd through an arc of one hundred and eighty degrees, or thereabout, or from down alongside of the median section of the stick upward alongside of the upper section thereof.

The hinge of the two rods of each rib is to be so constructed that when the said rods are in line with each other such hinge will prevent the lower rod from being turned under and up alongside of the upper rod, or between it and the stick. For this purpose, when the two rods are in line with each other, the end part, c, of

the upper one abuts against a stop, d, arranged in the hinge portion of the lower one.

The stick A is in three sections, 6, f, and g, the latter one of them being provided with a handle, it, and an annular rib fastening slide, i,

upper section has the rib hinge-ring D fixed upon and to it, the section with its hinge-link projecting a short distance below the ring D- that is, far enough for the brace-runner-E to he slid up to the ring D, and between it and the said link. The runner has a diameter sufficiently larger than that of the hinge-ring to allow of the braces being folded upward about such ring, and alongside of the upper sections of the ribs hinged to such ring.

Spring-catches G H, formed as shown, are applied to the median and lower sections of the stick, such catches being to operate with the brace-runner in holding the umbrella either open or closed, when the slides of the stick are covering the links and holding the stick-sections in line with each other.

An umbrella so made can be folded in a peculiar manner-that is to say, each of the lower rods of each rib can be turned upward alongside of its fellow upper rod, and both be turned upward alongside of the upper section of the side of the folded ribs and covering, thus bringing the whole into a small compass, or into a state for being packed in a valise or hand-bag, or in a short case, as occasion may require.

From the above it will be seen that there are important differences between my folding umbrella and that represented and described in the United States Patent No. 158,994, dated January 19, 1875, and granted to Uriah G.

. alongside of the middle section of the stick,

and between it and the lower rods of such ribs. In my umbrella the middle section of the stick folds upward alongside of the ribs, and-the cloth folds upward alongside of the upper section of such stick, the handle-section being turned downward; but in the Steinmetz umbrella the middle section of the stick folds against the upper section, and not against the ribs and cloth. Furthermore, in my umbrella the brace-runner has a diameter sufficiently larger than that of the bin ge-rin g to allow of the braces being folded upward about such ring and alongside of the inner section of the ribs when such are folded up alongside of the upper section of the stick but in the Steinmetz umbrella the hinge-ring, by having a diameter greater than that of the runner, effectually prevent-s both braces and ribs from being turned upward when the runner is raised up to' the said ring. With my improvement the umbrella, when folded, becomes much shorter than that of Steinmetz, because then all the stick that may be above the hinge-ring comes between the ribs and braces; but when the ribs fold downward against the stick such part necessarily projects beyond the braces and the inner sections of the ribs.

1 claim- In a folding umbrella having its stick and each of its ribs in sections jointed or connected together as described,the brace-runner having a diameter larger than that of the hinge-ring, in combination with the ribs hinged to the said ring and the braces to the runner and inner sections of the ribs, and with the outer sections of such ribs connected with the inner sections thereof, so as to be capable of being turned upward over alongside of them, all being substantially as set forth, in order that the ribs and braces may be turned upward alongside of each other and the upper section of the stick, and the outer sections of the ribs be turned in between the stick and the inner sections of such ribs, as explained.

CHAS. L. HURD. V

Witnesses:

G. A. MERRIAM, G. V. HURD. 

